Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,448 Vulcan Materials Company $VMC

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,448 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 4.1% in the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 960 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Vulcan Materials by 0.6% during the third quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. now owns 6,416 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 5,470 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,683,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Bollard Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 819 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vulcan Materials by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,523 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Vulcan Materials Stock Up 1.1%

VMC opened at $308.95 on Friday. Vulcan Materials Company has a 52 week low of $215.08 and a 52 week high of $331.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $304.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $297.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $40.34 billion, a PE ratio of 38.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.07.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The construction company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.41). Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 12.56%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vulcan Materials Company will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Vulcan Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This is an increase from Vulcan Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Vulcan Materials’s payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. B. Riley Financial assumed coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Vulcan Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Vulcan Materials from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $327.00 price objective on Vulcan Materials in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Vulcan Materials from $330.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vulcan Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Thompson S. Baker II sold 7,135 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.81, for a total transaction of $2,146,279.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Melissa H. Anderson sold 1,137 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.72, for a total transaction of $345,329.64. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,937 shares of company stock worth $2,687,784. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vulcan Materials Company Profile

Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC) is a U.S.-based producer of construction materials that supplies the building and infrastructure markets. The company’s primary products include construction aggregates such as crushed stone, sand and gravel, as well as asphalt mixes and ready-mixed concrete. These materials are used in a wide range of projects including highways, commercial and residential construction, and public infrastructure.

Vulcan operates an integrated network of quarries, asphalt plants and concrete facilities to produce and deliver materials to contractors, municipalities and private developers.